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Do you rob God...

Discussion in '2000-02 Archive' started by Daniel David, Dec 14, 2002.

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  1. Daniel David

    Daniel David New Member

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    of his glory? Do you recreate God in your image of who he should be?

    Scripture demands, "Therefore, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

    When you obey, do you delight in God? When you hang up the phone from someone you just repremanded, do you delight in God?

    Christians need to be hedonists. We need to seek maximum pleasure and joy at all costs by delighting in God. Your will needs to be in complete obedience to the revelation of God in Christ, revealed to us by his word. Your mind needs to be determined to believe that "God works all things together for good". Your emotions need to be 100% behind your delight in Christ. We need to endure suffering and pain and hurt and loss to delight in God. We need to go beyond frivolous moments of "happiness" for joy that cannot be taken away because we delight in God.

    How valuable is Christ to you? Jesus said, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple."

    Many do not want to embrace what he said. He is not saying that your love for him will be so great that it merely appears that you hate your closest relationships. He is saying that you must reject the other relationships as your priority and delight.

    If you delight in your mom first, you have created an idol. If you delight in your children first, you have created an idol. Thus, this is the secret sin of idolatry. If you delight in Christ to the extent that it might cause pain and loss and suffering from the other relationships, you will truly be full of joy and still delighting in Christ and thus fulfilling the command to give glory to God at all times.

    Do you obey out of duty or delight?

    There are two kinds of slavery:

    1. Lost people are bound to obey out of duty (like the older brother).

    2. Lost people are bound to unrestrained lust and unbridled passion (like the prodigal).

    Believers cannot be either. We must obey Christ with unrestrained delight and unbridled joy.

    Thoughts?
     
    #1 Daniel David, Dec 14, 2002
  2. Headcoveredlady

    Headcoveredlady New Member

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    Yes, we need to give up all things that come before the Lord and give Him the glory. It is hard to be second or last. To receive no glory for ourselves but become last, least of these. The server, the hidden one. It is easy to desire glory for ourselves.

    And our service for Him should be out of love for Him, not duty. Although it is easy to not "feel," like obeying. Obeying God's Word is always right whether we "feel," like it or not.

    HCL
     
    #2 Headcoveredlady, Dec 14, 2002
  3. Molly

    Molly New Member

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    I agree. [​IMG]
     
    #3 Molly, Dec 14, 2002
  4. Dr. Bob

    Dr. Bob Administrator
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    I'm right there with you. My position on all issues is Doxological - giving God all the glory.

    I had faith and I repented and I called on Jesus to save me. Right.

    God gave me faith and God gave me repentance and God gave me a new regenerated heart to call on Jesus to save me.

    HE deserves all glory for my salvation, and thus for all other areas of lesser importance as well.
     
    #4 Dr. Bob, Dec 14, 2002
  5. Abiyah

    Abiyah <img src =/abiyah.gif>

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    I certainly understand where you are coming from
    in your posts, but this week, I received a profound
    lesson, and a reminder, regarding how I perceive
    delighting in my Lord and in how those who ob-
    serve me judge whether or not I delight in my Lord.

    I have a young friend who moved here a short time
    ago from Russia. She attends a large local Rus-
    sian church--a Pentecostal church. She invited
    me and I attended once over a year ago. Although
    she had only seen me in pants, she demanded that
    when I attended, I was to wear a skirt, but I said I
    owned none. She insisted.

    I scrounged around and found, hidden away in a
    drawer, one of those "broomstick skirts," which I
    wore and attended. That week, I learned of some-
    one who needed clothes and gave them this skirt
    and some other clothing items.

    Although all my other acquaintances and friends
    recognize by my life that I am a believer, she is
    quite sure I need to be saved. While this is judg-
    mental on her part, I know, I think it should be met
    with patience and kindness, not criticism, and I
    have done so.

    Recently, she called and invited me again to her
    church. I told her I would go next weekend. In
    the process of our conversation, I told her, "I no
    longer have a skirt; I will need to wear pants."
    Her concern, she said, was that people would
    stare. I laughed and said that people stared
    last time I went--no problem! It was more likely,
    I said, that they stared because I am American.
    But the skirt-wearing was a big issue for her.

    I wondered: does she delight in wearing skirts, or
    are they worn out of obligation. Obligation to
    whom--to our God or to her church. Obligation
    to herself in order to keep people from staring,
    maybe. Or is she truly consecrated to do this in
    the delight of serving our God in this manner.

    I had never mentioned to her why I was kicked
    out of that church, so I told her, because she
    also brought up wearing jewelry. Unknown to me,
    many in her church do not wear any jewelry at all.
    Her immediate assumption was that jewelry was
    more important to me than is our God.

    We spoke of extra-biblical rules and whether or
    not a church had a right to enforce them, but her
    assessment of me is that, regardlesss of whether
    or not the Bible is silent on these things, they are
    legitimate rules upon which the salvation of
    others may be judged.

    Whether or not one delights in their salvation and
    in the gifts it brings may only be truly assessed
    by the individual and by our God. Perhaps there
    will be those who will also see the evidence of
    obvious joy in their lives as well.

    But am I to judge whether or not another is truly
    delighting in their salvation? I doubt it. 8o) As
    soon as I begin to judge such a things, the delight
    of my own salvation will immediately dim.

    [ December 22, 2002, 09:14 PM: Message edited by: Abiyah ]
     
    #5 Abiyah, Dec 22, 2002
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